Meerssen

References to Jews living in Meerssen survive from the late
seventeenth century. In 1715, a Jewish cemetery was established at
Geulbrugge on the road from Meerssen to Rothem. Another old Jewish
cemetery still stands in the former hamlet of Haasdal now part of
the village of Schimmert.

A sizeable Jewish community did not come into being at Meerssen
until the 1770's. At that time, religious services were held in a
private home on the corner of the Kerkstraat and the Beekstraat. By
1796, the community utilized a hall in the Steegstraat as its
synagogue. During the late eighteenth century the surrounding of
Meerssen was plagued by roving gangs of bandits, mostly comprised
of Jews.

With the reorganization of Dutch Jewry during the 1820's the
Jewish community at Meerssen was declared a regional community
(Ringsynagoge) under the aegis of the Jewish community at
Maastricht. The Jewish population of Meerssen remained relatively
constant throughout the nineteenth century; thereafter, its numbers
fell due to the general trend of migration to the more prosperous
west of the Netherlands. A new synagogue, located on the
Kuileneindestraat, was consecrated in 1853. Official and voluntary
organizations at Meerssen included the community directorate and a
women's society. The community also provided Jewish education for
its children.

By the
eve of the Second World War, the Jewish community at Meerssen had
become so small that it effectively had ceased to function. Under
the wartime German occupation of the Netherlands, almost all the
remaining Jews of Meerssen were deported and murdered; only a few
managed to escape death in hiding. The synagogue came through the
war undamaged despite the theft of part of its contents.

The Jewish community at Meerssen was officially dissolved in
1947 and administratively merged into the Jewish community at
Maastricht. The synagogue was sold in 1946. What was left of its
interior was removed and reinstalled in the synagogue at Maastricht. The former synagogue at
Meerssen was heavily damaged by fire in 1977. Later, it was
restored by the Kring van Vrienden van de Synagoge
Meerssen (The Association of Friends of the Meerssen
Synagogue). The former synagogue has served as a social and
cultural center since 1989. A Torah scroll originally from Meerssen
and later in the possession of the Jewish Historical Museum
Amsterdam was returned to the former synagogue in 1996. The Jewish
cemetery at Meerssen was declared a national monument and later
restored. It is currently maintained by the local authorities.